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kill

verb
/ˈkɪl/UK/ˈkɪʊ̯/

Etymology

From Middle English killen, kyllen, cüllen (“to strike, beat, cut”), of obscure origin. Cognate with Scots kele, keil (“to kill”). * Perhaps from unattested Old English *cyllan, from Proto-West Germanic *kwulljan, from Proto-Germanic *kwuljaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to throw, hit, hurt by throwing”). * Or, possibly a variant of Old English cwellan (“to kill, murder, execute”) (see quell). * Or, from Old Norse kolla (“to hit on the head, harm”), related to Norwegian kylla (“to poll”), Middle Dutch kollen (“to knock down”), Icelandic kollur (“top, head”); see also coll, cole). Compare also Saterland Frisian källe (“to hurt”), Middle Dutch kellen (“to kill, hurt”), Middle Low German kellen, killen (“to ache strongly, cause one great pain”) (whence German Low German kellen, killen (“to hurt, injure, torment, vex”)), Middle High German kellen (“to torment; torture”).

  1. derived from kolla — “to hit on the head, harm”
  2. inherited from cwellan — “to kill, murder, execute”
  3. derived from *gʷelH-✻ — “to throw, hit, hurt by throwing”
  4. inherited from *kwuljaną✻
  5. inherited from *kwulljan✻
  6. inherited from *cyllan✻
  7. inherited from killen

Definitions

  1. To put to death

    To put to death; to extinguish the life of.

    • Smoking kills more people each year than alcohol and hard drugs combined.
    • A Troope of Horſe with Felt: Ile put't in proofe, / And when I haue ſtolne vpon theſe Son in Lawes, / Then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.
    • Stephano: Monſter, I will kill this man : his daughter and I will be King and Queene, ſave our Graces : and Trinculo and thy ſelfe ſhall be Vice-royes : […]

  2. To render inoperative.

    • He killed the engine and turned off the headlights, but remained in the car, waiting.
    • He killed the motor.
    • Peter: Ask Childers if it was worth his arm. Policeman: What did you do to his arm, Peter? Peter: I killed it, with a machine gun.

  3. To stop, cease, or render void

    To stop, cease, or render void; to terminate.

    • The editor decided to kill the story.
    • The news that a hurricane had destroyed our beach house killed our plans to sell it.
    • My computer wouldn't respond until I killed some of the running processes.
  4. ›+ 23 more definitions

    1. To amaze, exceed, stun, or otherwise incapacitate.

      • That night, she was dressed to kill.
      • That joke always kills me.
      • He told us we ought to think of Jesus as our buddy and all. He said he talked to Jesus all the time. Even when he was driving his car. That killed me.

    2. To cause great pain, discomfort, or distress to

      To cause great pain, discomfort, or distress to; to hurt.

      • These tight shoes are killing my feet.
      • You don't ever want to get rabies. The doctor will have to give you multiple shots and they really kill.

    3. To produce feelings of dissatisfaction or revulsion in.

      • It kills me to throw out three whole turkeys, but I can't get anyone to take them and they've already started to go bad.
      • It kills me to learn how many poor people are practically starving in this country while rich moguls spend such outrageous amounts on useless luxuries.
      • And I really don't think you get it now No, I really don't think you get it now It's killing me, I admit it now Congratulations, you tore my heart out Congratulations

    4. To use up or to waste.

      • I'm just doing this to kill time.
      • Except for the shirt, which he’d worn, and the check, which he’d cashed, and the bottle of port, which he’d killed in bed on Christmas night, the gifts from his family were still on the floor of his bedroom.

    5. To overpower, overwhelm, or defeat.

      • Look at the amount of destruction to the enemy base. We pretty much killed their ability to retaliate.
      • The team had absolutely killed their traditional rivals, and the local sports bars were raucous with celebrations.

    6. To force a company out of business.

    7. To punish severely.

      • My parents are going to kill me!
      • "Father will kill us for this."

    8. To strike (a ball, etc.) with such force and placement as to make a shot that is…

      To strike (a ball, etc.) with such force and placement as to make a shot that is impossible to defend against, usually winning a point.

      • That close call encouraged Wales to launch another series of attacks that ended when lock Louis Deacon killed the ball illegally in the shadow of England's posts.

    9. To cause (a ball, etc.) to be out of play, resulting in a stoppage of gameplay.

    10. To succeed with an audience, especially in comedy.

      • When comics fail, they "die"; when they succeed, they "kill."
      • You really killed it at the Comedy Store last night.

    11. To cause to assume the value zero.

    12. To disconnect (a user) involuntarily from the network.

    13. To deadmelt.

    14. To sexually penetrate in a skillful way.

      • I felt on her big fat fanny Pulled out the jammy and killed the punanni

    15. To exert oneself to an excessive degree.

      • Don't kill yourself raking the leaves now; we're due for a windstorm tonight.

    16. The act of killing.

      • The assassin liked to make a clean kill, and thus favored small arms over explosives.
      • The blonde women were in a frenzy of excitement, their faces transformed from dull moronity to living evil; they shouted like wild animals at the kill.

    17. Specifically, the death blow.

      • The hunter delivered the kill with a pistol shot to the head.

    18. The result of killing

      The result of killing; that which has been killed.

      • The fox dragged its kill back to its den.
      • If ye plunder his kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride.

    19. An instance of killing

      An instance of killing; a score on the tally of enemy personnel or vehicles killed or destroyed.

      • confirmed kills
      • A flying ace is usually one with five or more confirmed kills.

    20. The grounding of the ball on the opponent's court, winning the rally.

      • As a senior in 1993, Turner had a kill percentage of 40.8, which was a school record at the time and the best in the SAC. Turner concluded her volleyball career with 1,349 kills, ranking fifth all-time at Catawba.

    21. A creek

      A creek; a body of water; a channel or arm of the sea.

      • The channel beyond Staten Island, which connects Newark Bay with Bergen Neck is the Kill van Kull, or the Kills.
      • Schuylkill, Catskill, etc.

    22. Alternative form of kiln.

      • The stack of one of the pottery kills is still a visible land mark of this once thriving industry.
      • A funerary ceremony comparable to that reported from Kolomoki site is indicated, though no "pottery kill” was located.

    23. A surname.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at kill. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01kill02inoperative03idle04occupation05trade06executed07execute

A definitional loop anchored at kill. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at kill

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA